UNC graduate selected as mission commander for SpaceX crew

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate is getting a high honor.

Zena Cardman will be the mission commander for SpaceX Crew 11, which will launch July 31 from Florida.

She was also one of four crew members selected for the SpaceX Crew 9 mission to the International Space Station in 2024.

Cardman, who delivered the commencement address in May at UNC, studied biogeochemistry as an undergrad.

She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017 from a pool of more than 18,000 applicants.